For example, wood is the greenest building option because it's 100% renewable, recyclable, biodegradable, and has far more favourable environmental economics than the production of either steel or concrete.

The demand for wood alone is expected to triple to 10 billion cubic meters by 2050*.

Population growth also increases demand for agricultural production, and converting forests to arable land to meet this demand remains one of the major drivers of deforestation, in particular in tropical and low-income countries.

Natural forests still supply more than half of the the world’s wood with currently less than 5% of the world’s forests are fast growth purpose grown planted forests.

Well designed and managed plantations can relieve the strain on natural forests but they must be able to provide the landowner an acceptable return that justifies their investment - ie the economics must make sense.

Trees are considered “high value” when they grow more quickly, are taller and wider, have a high tolerance to stresses like cold, insects or disease, exhibit uniform height, thickness and branching, can be converted more efficiently to pulp or energy, or have certain other wood quality characteristics.

Next-generation seedlings developed using ArborGen’s advanced tree breeding techniques are providing rapid and significant improvements in tree productivity and value, far beyond what would be available using conventional seedling products.

ArborGen’s goal is to see its next-generation seedlings significantly increase the productivity of purpose grown planted forests, which will in turn help the world achieve zero net deforestation and help enable natural forests be retained for future generations.